Method and system for storing inventory holders

ABSTRACT

A method for storing inventory items in an inventory system includes detecting that an inventory holder is available for storage and determining a classification of the inventory holder. The method also includes determining a classification of each of a plurality of storage locations and selecting a storage location for the inventory holder based, at least in part, on the classification of the inventory holder and the classification of the selected storage location. The method additionally includes transmitting information identifying the storage location to a mobile drive unit associated with the inventory holder.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates in general to inventory systems, and moreparticularly to a method and system for efficient storage and retrievalof inventory items.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Modern inventory systems, such as those in mail-order warehouses,airport luggage systems, and custom-order manufacturing facilities, facesignificant challenges in responding to requests for inventory items. Ininventory systems tasked with responding to large numbers of diverseinventory requests, slow responses to inventory requests may result inan ever-increasing backlog of inventory requests. Furthermore, ininventory systems encompassing substantial amounts of physical space,response times for inventory requests may depend heavily on the storagespaces of the requested inventory items within the inventory system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, the disadvantages and problemsassociated inventory storage have been substantially reduced oreliminated. In particular, a mobile inventory system is provided thatincludes one or more mobile drive units capable of moving any of aplurality of inventory holders between locations within a physical spaceassociated with the mobile inventory system.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a method forstoring inventory items in an inventory system includes detecting thatan inventory holder is available for storage and determining aclassification of the inventory holder. The method also includesdetermining a classification of each of a plurality of storage locationsand selecting a storage location for the inventory holder based, atleast in part, on the classification of the inventory holder and theclassification of the selected storage location. The method additionallyincludes transmitting information identifying the storage location to amobile drive unit associated with the inventory holder.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a systemfor storing inventory items, comprises a plurality of inventory holders,a plurality of mobile drive units, a plurality of inventory stations,and a management module. The plurality of inventory holders are capableof storing inventory items and the plurality of mobile drive units arecapable of moving the inventory holders. The plurality of inventorystations represent locations where inventory items may be removed frominventory holders and/or equipment for removing inventory items frominventory holders. Additionally, the management module is capable ofdetecting that an inventory holder is available for storage anddetermining a classification of the inventory holder. The managementmodule is also capable of determining a classification of each of aplurality of storage locations and selecting a storage location for theinventory holder based, at least in part, on the classification of theinventory holder and the classification of the selected storagelocation. The management module is additionally capable of transmittinginformation identifying the storage location to a mobile drive unitassociated with the inventory holder.

Technical advantages of certain embodiments of the present inventioninclude the ability to optimize, with respect to task completion times,work distribution, and other relevant metrics, the selection of systemcomponents to perform inventory-related tasks. Other technicaladvantages of certain embodiments of the present invention includeproviding a flexible and scalable inventory storage solution that can beeasily adapted to accommodate system growth and modification. Othertechnical advantages of the present invention will be readily apparentto one skilled in the art from the following figures, descriptions, andclaims. Moreover, while specific advantages have been enumerated above,various embodiments may include all, some, or none of the enumeratedadvantages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention and itsadvantages, reference is now made to the following description, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates components of an inventory system according to aparticular embodiment;

FIG. 2 illustrates operation of a particular embodiment of the inventorysystem while retrieving an inventory holder containing particularinventory items;

FIG. 3 illustrates operation of a particular embodiment of the inventorysystem while storing the inventory holder;

FIG. 4 illustrates operation of a particular embodiment of the inventorysystem while replenishing the inventory holder;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating operation of a particular embodimentof the inventory system while retrieving the inventory holder;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating operation of a particular embodimentof the inventory system while storing the inventory holder; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating operation of a particular embodimentof the inventory system while replenishing the inventory holder.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates the contents of an inventory system 10. Inventorysystem 10 includes a management module 15, one or more mobile driveunits 20, one or more inventory holders 30, and one or more inventorystations 50. Mobile drive units 20 transport inventory holders 30between storage spaces 90 and/or inventory stations 50 within aworkspace 70 in response to commands communicated by management module15. Each inventory holder 30 stores one or more types of inventory items40. As a result, inventory system 10 is capable of moving inventoryitems 40 between storage spaces and inventory stations 50 in order tofacilitate the input and removal of inventory items 40 from inventorysystem 10 and the completion of other tasks involving inventory items40.

Management module 15 receives and/or generates inventory requests thatinitiate particular operations involving inventory items 40 andtransmits these inventory requests to appropriate components ofinventory system 10. These inventory requests specify operations to beperformed by inventory system 10 and/or inventory items 40 that areassociated with these operations. Management module 15 may selectcomponents of inventory system 10 to perform these operations andcommunicate appropriate commands and/or data to the selected componentsto facilitate completion of these operations. Although the descriptionbelow focuses on embodiments of inventory system 10 that receiveinventory requests from other components of inventory system 10,management module 15 may alternatively or additionally generateinventory requests itself using any appropriate techniques. In suchembodiments, management module 15 may generate inventory requests basedon a predetermined schedule of operations, in response to detecting theoccurrence of a particular event, or at any appropriate time.

Additionally, management module 15 may represent a single component,multiple components located at a central location within inventorysystem 10, and/or multiple components distributed throughout inventorysystem 10. For example, management module 15 may represent components ofone or more mobile drive units 20 that are capable of communicatinginformation between the mobile drive units 20 and coordinating movementof mobile drive units 20 in transporting inventory holders 30. Ingeneral, management module 15 may include any appropriate combination ofhardware and/or software suitable to provide the described functionalityand may further include components located on mobile drive units 20,inventory stations 50, or other elements of inventory system 10.

Mobile drive units 20 move inventory holders 30 between locations withina workspace 70 associated with inventory system 10. Mobile drive units20 may represent any devices or components appropriate for use ininventory system 10 based on the characteristics and configuration ofinventory holders 30 and/or other elements of inventory system 10. In aparticular embodiment of inventory system 10, mobile drive units 20represent independent, self-powered devices configured to freely moveabout workspace 70. In alternative embodiments, mobile drive units 20represent elements of a tracked inventory system 10 configured to moveinventory holder 30 along tracks, rails, cables, or other guidanceelements traversing workspace 70. In such an embodiment, mobile driveunits 20 may receive power through a connection to the guidanceelements, such as a powered rail.

Additionally, mobile drive units 20 may be capable of communicating withmanagement module 15 to receive information identifying selectedinventory holders 30, transmit locations of mobile drive units 20, orexchange any other suitable information to be used by management module15 or mobile drive units 20 during operation. Mobile drive units 20 maycommunicate with management module 15 wirelessly, using wiredconnections between mobile drive units 20 and management module 15,and/or in any other appropriate manner. As one example, particularembodiments of mobile drive unit 20 may communicate with managementmodule 15 and/or with one another using 802.11, Bluetooth, or any otherappropriate wireless communication protocol. As another example, in atracked inventory system 10, tracks or other guidance element upon whichmobile drive units 20 move may be wired to facilitate communicationbetween mobile drive units 20 and other components of inventory system10.

Furthermore, as noted above, management module 15 may include componentsof individual mobile drive units 20. Thus, for the purposes of thisdescription, communication between management module 15 and a particularmobile drive unit 20 may represent communication between components of aparticular mobile drive unit 20. In general, mobile drive units 20 maybe powered, controlled, and propelled in any manner appropriate based onthe configuration and characteristics of inventory system 10.

Inventory holders 30 store inventory items 40. In a particularembodiment, inventory holders 30 include multiple storage bins with eachstorage bin capable of holding a different type of inventory item 40.Inventory holders 30 are capable of being rolled or otherwise moved bymobile drive units 20. In particular embodiments, inventory holder 30may provide additional propulsion to supplement that provided by mobiledrive unit 20 when moving inventory holder 30.

Additionally, each inventory holder 30 may include a plurality of faces,and each bin may be accessible through one or more faces of theinventory holder 30. For example, in a particular embodiment, inventoryholder 30 includes four faces. In such an embodiment, bins located at acorner of two faces may be accessible through either of those two faces,while each of the other bins is accessible through an opening in one ofthe four faces. Mobile drive unit 20 may be configured to rotateinventory holder 30 at appropriate times to present a particular faceand the bins associated with that face to an operator or othercomponents of inventory system 10.

Inventory items 40 represent any objects suitable for storage andretrieval in an automated inventory system 10. For the purposes of thisdescription, “inventory item 40” may represent any one or more objectsof a particular type that are stored in inventory system 10, while a“unit” of an inventory item 40 represents an individual object of thattype. For example, in an inventory system 10 that stores books, aparticular book title may represent an “inventory item 40” while eachindividual copy of that book may represent a “unit” of the inventoryitem 40. Thus, a particular inventory holder 30 is currently “storing” aparticular inventory item 40 if the inventory holder 30 currently holdsone or more units of that type. Similarly, two units of inventory mayrepresent the “same” inventory item 40 if the units are of the sametype.

As noted, inventory items 40 may represent any objects suitable forstorage in inventory system 10. As one example, inventory system 10 mayrepresent a mail order warehouse facility, and inventory items 40 mayrepresent merchandise stored in the warehouse facility. Mobile driveunit 20 may retrieve a particular inventory holder 30 containing one ormore inventory items 40 requested in an order to be packed for deliveryto a customer.

As another example, inventory system 10 may represent an airport luggagefacility. In such an embodiment, inventory items 40 may represent piecesof luggage stored in the luggage facility. Mobile drive unit 20 mayretrieve inventory holder 30 containing luggage arriving and/ordeparting on particular flights or luggage destined for particular typesof processing, such as x-ray or manual searching.

As another example, inventory system 10 may represent amerchandise-return facility. In such an embodiment, inventory items 40may represent merchandise returned by customers. Units of theseinventory items 40 may be stored in inventory holders 30 when receivedat the facility. At appropriate times, a large number of units may beremoved from a particular inventory holder 30 and packed for shipmentback to a warehouse or other facility. For example, individual units ofa particular inventory item 40 may be received and stored in inventoryholders 30 until a threshold number of units of that inventory item 40have been received. A pallet may then be packed with inventory item 40and shipped to another facility, such as a mail-order warehouse.

As yet another example, inventory system 10 may represent amanufacturing facility, and inventory items 40 may represent individualcomponents of a manufacturing kit. More specifically, these componentsmay represent components intended for inclusion in an assembled product,such as electronic components for a customized computer system. In suchan embodiment, inventory system 10 may retrieve particular componentsidentified by a specification associated with an order for the productso that a customized version of the product can be built . . . .Although a number of example embodiments are described, inventory system10 may, in general, represent any suitable facility or system forstoring and processing inventory items 40, and inventory items 40 mayrepresent objects of any type suitable for storage in a particularinventory system 10.

Inventory stations 50 represent locations designated for the removal ofinventory items 40 from inventory holders 30, the introduction ofinventory items 40 into inventory holders 30, the counting of inventoryitems 40 in inventory holders 30, and/or the processing or handling ofinventory items 40 in any other suitable manner. Inventory stations 50may also represent any appropriate components for processing or handlinginventory items 40, such as scanners for monitoring the flow ofinventory items 40 in and out of inventory system 10, communicationinterfaces for communicating with management module 15, and/or any othersuitable components. Inventory stations 50 may be controlled, entirelyor in part, by human operators or may be fully automated. Moreover, thehuman or automated operators of inventory stations 50 may be capable ofperforming certain tasks to inventory items 40, such as packing orcounting inventory items 40, as part of the operation of inventorysystem 10.

Although “inventory station” as used in the following description refersto locations at which any appropriate processing operation supported byinventory system 10 may be completed, particular embodiments ofinventory system 10 may include specialized inventory stations 50suitable for performing only a single processing task supported byinventory system 10. For example, a particular inventory station 50 maybe capable of handling only retrieval requests or only replenishmentrequests, as defined below. Moreover, a particular embodiment ofinventory system 10 may include inventory stations 50 that are, ingeneral, capable of handling multiple types of inventory requests but,at any given time, configured to handle only one particular type ofinventory requests.

Workspace 70 represents an area associated with inventory system 10 inwhich mobile drive units 20 can move and/or inventory holders 30 can bestored. For example, workspace 70 may represent all or part of the floorof a mail-order warehouse in which inventory system 10 operates.Although FIG. 1 shows, for the purposes of illustration, an embodimentof inventory system 10 in which workspace 70 includes a fixed,predetermined, and finite physical space, particular embodiments ofinventory system 10 may include mobile drive units 20 and inventoryholders 30 that are configured to operate within a workspace 70 that isof variable dimensions and/or arbitrary geometry.

During operation of a particular embodiment of inventory system 10,management module 15 receives inventory requests that trigger particularoperations within inventory system 10 including, but not limited to,operations associated with the retrieval, storage, replenishment, andcounting of inventory items 40 and/or inventory holders 30. Inventoryrequests may represent communication of any form suitable for inventorysystem 10 and may include any appropriate information identifyinginventory items 40 and/or operations to be completed by inventory system10. Furthermore, although the description below focuses on an embodimentof inventory system 10 capable of performing particular operations, aparticular embodiment of inventory system 10 may be configured toperform any appropriate operation associated with the storage,processing, or removal of inventory items 40.

As noted above, management module 15 may receive inventory requests froma human operator or other components of inventory system 10. Forexample, an operator of inventory system 10 may manually enter inventoryrequests using a keyboard coupled to management module 15. As anotherexample, management module 15 may receive inventory requests from remotecomponents over a network connection, such as an internet connection.Alternatively, management module 15 may itself generate inventoryrequests. For example, management module 15 may be configured toinitiate a particular operation based on a predetermined schedule or inresponse to a particular event, and may generate inventory requestsaccordingly. In general, management module 15 may receive or generateinventory requests in any suitable manner. For the sake of illustration,however, the description below assumes that management module 15receives inventory requests from other elements of inventory system 10.

In response to receiving an inventory request, management module 15 mayselect components or other elements of inventory system 10 to completethe inventory request. For example, depending on the type of operationrequested, management module 15 may select a particular mobile driveunit 20, inventory holder 30, inventory station 50, storage space 90,and/or other suitable components and elements of inventory system tofacilitate completion of the inventory request. After management module15 selects suitable components and/or elements to complete the inventoryrequest, management module 15 may then communicate informationidentifying one or more of the selected components and/or elements toone or more component of inventory system 10. This information mayidentify the selected components or elements using some identifier, suchas a name or number associated with the selected components, or usingthe location of the selected components.

For example, in retrieving inventory items 40 in a particular embodimentof inventory system 10, management module 15 selects a mobile drive unit20, inventory holder 30, and an inventory station 50 to complete theoperation. After selecting these components, management module 15 maycommunicate information identifying the selected inventory holder 30 andthe selected inventory station 50 to the selected mobile drive unit 20.Management module 15 may identify inventory holder 30 to a selectedmobile drive unit 20 by specifying the selected inventory holder 30, byidentifying a location for the selected inventory holder 30, or in anyother suitable manner. Management module 15 may also transmitinformation specifying the selected inventory holder 30 and one or moreinventory items 40 associated with the inventory request to the selectedinventory station 50 to identify inventory items 40 to be selected infulfilling the inventory request.

The selected components may then utilize the received information tocomplete the inventory request in an appropriate manner. For example, aselected mobile drive unit 20 may move a selected inventory holder 30 toa selected inventory station 50 so that an operator of the selectedinventory station 50 may pick requested inventory items 40 from theselected inventory holder 30 and pack them for shipment. FIGS. 2-4illustrate further the operation of a particular embodiment of inventorysystem 10 in responding to particular types of inventory requests.

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate the operation of a particular embodiment ofinventory system 10 in responding to a particular type of inventoryrequest, referred to here as a “retrieval request,” which identifies oneor more types of inventory items 40 to be retrieved from storage ininventory system 10. In the embodiment of inventory system 10illustrated by FIGS. 2 and 3, inventory system 10 utilizes a two-stepprocess to respond to retrieval requests. More specifically, inventorysystem 10 first retrieves a selected inventory holder 30 from a storagespace 90 and moves the selected inventory holder 30 to a selectedinventory station 50. After the appropriate inventory items 40 have beenpicked from inventory holder 30, inventory system 10 determines anappropriate storage space 90 for the selected inventory holder 30 andmoves inventory holder 30 to the storage space 90, moves the inventoryholder 30 in such a way as to present another face to inventory station50, or moves inventory holder 30 to another inventory station 50. FIG. 2illustrates operation of inventory system 10 in selecting and retrievinginventory holder 30, while FIG. 3 illustrates operation of inventorysystem 10 in storing the selected inventory holder 30. Although thedescription below describes inventory system 10 as performing aretrieval step and a storage step when responding to retrieval requests,inventory system 10 may, in a particular embodiment, be configured toperform either of the retrieval step or the store step independently ofthe other or to include any appropriate additional steps when respondingto retrieval requests.

FIG. 2, as noted above, illustrates operation of inventory system 10 inretrieving an inventory holder 30 from storage within workspace 70. FIG.2 shows a top view of inventory system 10 that includes mobile driveunits 20, inventory holders 30, and inventory stations 50. Furthermore,workspace 70 also includes multiple storage spaces 90 which representphysical locations where inventory holders 30 rest when not being usedto respond to inventory requests.

Additionally, in the illustrated embodiment, each inventory station 50has a queue associated with that inventory station 50 located adjacentto or near the inventory station 50. Each queue 80 provides space forone or more mobile drive units 20 and/or inventory holders 30 to restuntil the associated inventory station 50 is ready to process a requestassociated with that mobile drive unit 20 or inventory holder 30. Forexample, a particular inventory station 50 may be involved withprocessing several inventory requests simultaneously, and several mobiledrive units 20 may arrive at that inventory station 50 at approximatelythe same time. While the operator of that inventory station 50 processesinventory items 40 of one inventory holder 30 based on an inventoryrequest associated with that inventory holder 30, mobile drive units 20and/or inventory holders 30 associated with other inventory requests maywait in queue 80 until the operator of the inventory station 50 hasfinished processing the first inventory request.

In operation, management module 15 receives a retrieval request thatidentifies one or more types of inventory items 40 to be retrieved fromstorage in inventory system 10. Depending on the configuration ofinventory system 10, the retrieval request may identify types ofinventory items 40 to be retrieved, for example by specifying a productname, or specific inventory items 40, for example by identifyingparticular articles of luggage. In response to receiving the retrievalrequest, management module 15 selects one of inventory stations 50 atwhich the retrieval request will be processed using suitable criteria.For the purposes of this description, “processing” a retrieval requestmay include selecting designated inventory items 40 from inventoryholders 30 and placing these inventory items 40 in a box for shipping,assembling a finished product from the designated inventory items 40,counting the number of the specified inventory items 40 in the inventoryholder 30, or processing the designated inventory items 40 in any otherappropriate manner based on the characteristics of inventory system 10.

Management module 15 also selects one or more inventory holders 30 thatcontain the identified inventory items 40 and one or more mobile driveunits 20 to move the selected inventory holders 30 to the selectedinventory station 50. Although the description below focuses, forpurposes of illustration, on an embodiment of inventory system 10 thatselects inventory station 50, inventory holder 30, and mobile drive unit20 in a particular order based on particular criteria, management module15 may select these components in any suitable order and may utilize anysuitable factors, criteria, or considerations in determining whichcomponents to use as described in greater detail below. Furthermore,management module 15 may select each component independently or may basethe selection of a particular component on the selection of any othercomponent.

As noted above, management module 15 may utilize any suitable factors,criteria, or considerations in determining which components of inventorysystem 10 to use in fulfilling the retrieval request. The criteriautilized by management module 15 in selecting an inventory station 50may include, but is not limited to, the distance between the selectedinventory station 50 and particular inventory holders 30 or mobile driveunits 20, the work history of the selected inventory station 50, theworker or station capabilities at station 50, and the current contentsof queue 80 associated with the selected inventory station 50. Forexample, in a particular embodiment of inventory system 10, managementmodule 15 calculates a score for each inventory station 50 with respectto the requested inventory item 40. This score is a function of severalfactors including a product density value, a drive unit density value, aworkload value, and a queue capacity value, as described below.Management module 15 may then select an inventory station 50 based onthe score of the selected inventory station 50.

The product density value of a particular inventory station 50, in thisexample embodiment, measures the distribution of the requested inventoryitem 40 relative to that inventory station 50. As one example,management module 15 calculates the product density value of therelevant inventory station 50 based on the distance between theinventory station 50 and one or more inventory holders 30 currentlystoring inventory items 40 of the relevant item type. More specifically,management module 15 calculates the product density value based on boththe number of inventory holders 30 near inventory station 50 that holdthe requested inventory item 40 and on the inverse of the distance tothese inventory holders 30. By selecting an inventory station 50 that isclose to several inventory holders 30 with the requested inventory item40, management module 15 may be able to optimize operation of inventorysystem 10.

In selecting a mobile drive unit 20 and/or inventory holder 30,management module 15 may also consider the fact that a particularinventory holder 30 is already en route to the selected inventorystation 50 to fulfill another retrieval request, or that the selectedinventory station 50 is located on or near a path to be traveled by aparticular inventory holder 30 in fulfilling another retrieval request.Thus, management module 15 may be able to utilize mobile drive units 20that are already in the process of completing retrieval requests and, asa result, further optimize use of system resources and/or minimize theamount of time taken to fulfill the current retrieval request. Dependingon the configuration of inventory system 10, management module 15 mayuse this information in any appropriate manner. For example, managementmodule 15 may set the product density value to some predeterminedmaximum value if an inventory holder 30 storing an inventory item 40 ofthe relevant item type is already en route to that inventory station 50(or automatically choose the inventory holder).

The drive unit density value of a particular inventory station 50, inthis example embodiment, describes the distribution of mobile driveunits 20 relative to that inventory station 50. Management module 15 maycalculate the drive unit density value based on the distance between theinventory station 50 and one or more mobile drive units 20 available torespond to the retrieval request. More specifically, management module15 may calculate the drive unit value based on both the number ofavailable mobile drive units 20 near inventory station 50 and theinverse of the distance between each of these mobile drive units 20 andthe inventory station 50. By selecting an inventory station 50 that isclose to several free mobile drive units 20, management module 15 may beable to further optimize operation of inventory system 10.

The workload value of a particular inventory station 50, in the exampleembodiment, represents a measure of the work performed by the currentoperator of that inventory station 50. For example, management module 15may calculate the workload value based on the number of inventoryrequests fulfilled by the operator of that inventory station 50 over apredetermined period of time, the amount of time the operator has spentworking on retrieval requests, or any other appropriate measure of thework history of the operator. Alternatively, the workload value maymeasure the work history of that inventory station 50 for all operators.For example, management module 15 may calculate the workload value basedon a number of inventory requests completed at that inventory station 50by any operator. By considering this workload value, management module15 may be capable of providing a more even distribution of tasks betweenthe various inventory stations 50 and/or operators active in inventorysystem 10.

The queue capacity value of a particular inventory station 50, in thisexample embodiment, describes the contents of queue 80 associated withthat inventory station 50. Management module 15 may determine the queuecapacity value of a particular inventory station 50 based on a number ofopen slots in queue 80 associated with the inventory station 50, anumber of inventory holders 30 currently waiting in queue 80, ananticipated wait time for inventory holders 30 entering queue 80, or anyother suitable measure or value associated with the contents of queue80. In the example embodiment, management module 15 calculates a queuecapacity value for each inventory station 50 that is the inverse of thenumber of open queue spots associated with that inventory station 50.Management module 15 may be further configured to prefer inventorystations 50 with a greater number of open queue spaces, eliminateinventory stations 50 from consideration that have no empty queuespaces, or use the information provided by the queue capacity value inany appropriate manner. As a result, management module 15 may be able tooptimize operation of inventory system 10 by limiting the amount of timemobile drive units 20 and inventory holders 30 wait in queues 80.

As indicated above, management module 15 may then use the relevantfactors in any suitable manner to select the inventory station 50,giving any appropriate weight or consideration to each factor. In theexample embodiment, management module 15 calculates a score for eachinventory station 50 based on a weighted sum of the product densityvalue, the mobile drive unit density value, the workload value, and thequeue capacity value with an appropriate weight assigned to each value.

Management module 15 then selects the inventory station 50 with thelowest score to process the retrieval request. For the purposes of thisexample, management module 15 is assumed to have selected a particularinventory station 50, shown as selected inventory station 50 h in FIG.2.

In addition to selecting an inventory station 50, management module 15selects an inventory holder 30 and a mobile drive unit 20 to facilitatecompletion of the retrieval request. As with selecting inventory station50, management module 15 may use any appropriate criteria, factors, orconsiderations in selecting inventory holder 30 and mobile drive unit20. In selecting inventory holder 30, the criteria utilized bymanagement module 15 may include, but is not limited to, the distancebetween the selected inventory holder 30 and one or more mobile driveunits 20 or inventory stations 50, the contents of the selectedinventory holder 30, the relative placement of inventory items 40 in theselected inventory holder 30, and the current commitments of theselected inventory holder 30. In selecting mobile drive unit 20, thecriteria utilized by management module 15 may include, but is notlimited to, the distance between the selected mobile drive unit 20 andone or more inventory holders 30 or inventory stations 50 and thecurrent availability of the selected mobile drive unit 20.

For example, in a particular embodiment, management module 15 selectsinventory holder 30 by first determining which inventory holders 30currently store the requested inventory item 40. Management module 15may then select from the inventory holders 30 that are currently holdingthe requested inventory item 40 an inventory holder 30 based onadditional criteria. More specifically, in a particular embodiment,management module 15 calculates a score for each inventory holder 30that stores the requested inventory item 40. This score is based, inpart, on the inverse of the distance from the inventory holder 30 to theselected inventory station 50. In this embodiment, management module 15then selects the inventory holder 30 with the highest score. For thepurposes of example, management module 15 is assumed to have selected aparticular inventory holder 30, shown as selected inventory holder 30 xin FIG. 2.

Additionally, a particular embodiment of inventory system 10 may beconfigured to utilize retrieval requests identifying a plurality ofinventory items 40. In such an embodiment, management module 15 mayselect an inventory holder 30 based on the number of inventory items 40identified by the retrieval request that are currently stored in thatinventory holder 30. For example, management module 15 may select theinventory holder 30 holding the greatest number of requested inventoryitems 40. Alternatively, inventory holder 30 may identify a group ofinventory holders 30 holding a minimum number of the requested inventoryitems 40 and select a particular inventory holder 30 from that groupbased on additional criteria.

Moreover, a particular embodiment of inventory system 10 may also beconfigured to utilize retrieval requests identifying a quantity of aparticular inventory item 40 to be retrieved. In such an embodiment,management module 15 may select an inventory holder 30 based on thenumber of units of the requested inventory item 40 stored on thatinventory holder 30. For example, management module 15 may identify agroup of inventory holders 30 currently holding a quantity of therequested inventory item 40 that is greater than the requested quantityof the inventory item 40 specified in the retrieval request. Managementmodule 15 may then select a particular inventory holder 30 from thisgroup based on additional criteria.

Furthermore, inventory holders 30 may include a plurality of faces, andeach inventory item 40 stored in a particular inventory holder 30 may beassociated with one or more faces of that inventory holder 30. Inventoryitems 40 may be accessible only from one of the faces associated withthe inventory item 40. For example, inventory holder 30 may include fourfaces and a plurality of inventory bins. Each inventory bin may beassociated with one or more particular faces. In particular, inventorybins located at a corner of inventory holder 30 may be associated withboth frame faces forming the corner. In a particular embodiment, aninventory bin may only be accessed through the one or more frame facesassociated with that inventory bin. Thus, when mobile drive unit 20 andinventory holder 30 arrive at inventory station 50, mobile drive unit 20may rotate inventory holder 30 to present a particular face and allow anoperator to select inventory items 40 from a particular inventory binassociated with that face. In such an embodiment of inventory system 10,management module 15 may consider the contents of faces of inventoryholder 30 separately. As a result, management module 15 may selectinventory holders 30 based in part on the number of requested inventoryitems 40 or the quantity of a single requested inventory item 40 storedon a single face of inventory holder 30.

Management module 15 may also consider, when selecting an inventoryholder 30, whether a particular inventory holder 30 is located in astorage space 90 appropriate for that inventory holder 30. For example,workspace 70 may be divided into a plurality of storage regions witheach storage region associated with inventory holders 30 based on aparticular characteristic of inventory holders 30. In a particularembodiment, each inventory holder 30 may be assigned to a particularstorage region based on how frequently the inventory items 40 stored onthat inventory holder 30 are requested in retrieval requests or otherinventory requests. Management module 15 may thus select an inventoryholder 30 based on whether the selected inventory holder 30 is locatedin a storage region other than the storage region associated with thatinventory holder 30. In particular, management module 15 may givepreference to inventory holders 30 that are currently stored in thewrong storage region. As a result, particular embodiments of inventorysystem 10 may assign frequently requested inventory holders 30 storagespaces 90 closer to inventory stations 50 and may utilize retrievalrequests to tune the distribution of inventory holders 30 by correctingincorrectly located inventory holders 30.

Particular embodiments of inventory system 10 may tune the location ofinventory holders 30 in various manners. As one example, in particularembodiments of inventory system 10, management module 15 determines atuning range for each a plurality of storage regions. The tuning rangeof a particular storage region describes the inventory holders 30 thatare appropriate for storage in that storage region. The tuning regiondescribes these inventory holders 30 by specifying a range of valuesappropriate for a particular characteristic of these inventory holders30, referred to here as a “tuning value.” For example, management module15 may calculate a holder velocity for each inventory holder 30 based onhow often that inventory holder 30 is selected to respond to retrievalrequests and may use this holder velocity as a tuning value for tuningthe location of inventory holders 30 in inventory system 10.

In such embodiments, management module 15 may tune the location ofinventory holders 30 by identifying a first group of inventory holders30 that includes some or all inventory holders 30 that currently storethe requested inventory items. Management module 15 then determines atuning differential for each inventory holder 30 in this group. Thetuning differential of a particular inventory holder 30 represents anumeric measure of how far the holder velocity of that inventory holder30 is outside the tuning range of the tuning region in which thatinventory holder 30 is located. Management module 15 may then identify asecond group of inventory holders 30 that have a tuning differentialgreater than some predetermined threshold. Management module 15 may thenselect, based on appropriate considerations, an inventory holder 30 fromthat second group. As a result, management module 15 may be able to biasthe selection of inventory holders 30 towards inventory holders 30 thatare, with respect to the relevant tuning value, badly misplaced ininventory system 10.

Overuse of tuning may, however, reduce the overall efficiency ofinventory system 10. As a result, in particular embodiments of inventorysystem 10, management module 15 may use certain techniques to limit theeffects of tuning on overall efficiency. In particular embodiments,management module 15 may be configured to tune the location of inventoryholders 30 based on a tuning frequency. For example, management module15 may be configured to tune the location when responding to every 100thretrieval request. As a result, every 100th retrieval request,management module 15 may consider the tuning of inventory holders 30, asdescribed above, when selecting an inventory holder 30 to fulfill theretrieval request. For all other retrieval requests, management module15 may select inventory holder 30 without regard for the tuning of theselected inventory holder 30. Thus, by properly configuring the tuningfrequency utilized by management module 15, an operator of inventorysystem 10 can maximize efficient fulfillment of retrieval requests.

After selecting inventory station 50 and inventory holder 30, managementmodule 15 selects a mobile drive to move the selected inventory holder30 to the selected inventory station 50. In selecting mobile drive unit20, management module 15 may, in a particular embodiment, determinewhich mobile drive units 20 are available to retrieve the selectedinventory holder 30. To determine which mobile drive units 20 areavailable, management module 15 may utilize information previouslystored on management module 15, or information received by managementmodule 15 from mobile drive units 20 or other components of inventorysystem 10. For example, in a particular embodiment, management module 15stores information indicating which mobile drive unit 20 are currentlyfulfilling inventory requests in inventory system 10. Management module15 may then use this information to select an appropriate mobile driveunit 20 for the current retrieval request. As another example,management module 15 may poll one or more mobile drive units 20 todetermine whether each of these mobile drive units 20 is availablebefore selecting the mobile drive unit 20 to fulfill the currentretrieval request. In general, mobile drive unit 20 may use anyappropriate method, based on the configuration and characteristics ofinventory system 10, to determine which mobile drive unit 20 areavailable.

After determining which mobile drive units 20 are available, managementmodule 15 selects a particular mobile drive unit 20 from the availablemobile drive units 20 to fulfill the retrieval request. Managementmodule 15 may utilize any additional criteria to determine which of theavailable mobile drive units 20 to use. For example, in particularembodiment, management module 15 calculates a score for each availablemobile drive unit 20. This score is based, in part, on the distance fromthat particular mobile drive unit 20 to the selected inventory station50 or the selected inventory holder 30. In this embodiment, managementmodule 15 then selects the mobile drive unit 20 with the best score. Forthe purposes of this example, management module 15 is assumed to haveselected a particular mobile drive unit 20, shown as selected mobiledrive unit 20 x in FIG. 2

After selecting appropriate components of inventory system 10,management module 15 generates or retrieves information, referred tohere as a “retrieval command”, that identifies the selected inventoryholder 30 or the location of the selected inventory holder 30 and theselected inventory station 50 or the location of the selected inventorystation 50. Management module 15 then transmits this retrieval commandto the selected mobile drive unit 20. Management module 15 may alsotransmit the retrieval command or other information to the selectedinventory station 50 to be used by the operator of the selectedinventory station 50 in completing the retrieval request.

After receiving the retrieval command, selected mobile drive unit 20 xmoves to selected inventory holder 30 x, as shown by arrow 210 in FIG.2, based on a location or other information specified in the retrievalcommand. Selected mobile drive unit 20 x then couples to selectedinventory holder 30 x. After coupling to selected inventory holder 30 x,selected mobile drive unit 20 x moves to selected inventory station 50 has shown by arrow 220 in FIG. 2. As indicated by FIG. 2, selected mobiledrive unit 20 x may move selected inventory holder 30 x through one ormore spaces in a particular queue 80, queue 80 h, that is associatedwith selected inventory station 50 h. Moreover, selected mobile driveunit 20 may pause one or more times while moving through queue 80 h sothat selected mobile drive unit 20 arrives at inventory station 50 at anappropriate time. For example, selected mobile drive unit 20 may pauseone or more times in queue 80 h while inventory holders 30 associatedwith other inventory requests are processed at selected inventorystation 50 h.

Once selected mobile drive unit 20 x has brought selected inventoryholder 30 x to the selected inventory station 50 h, an operatorassociated with selected inventory station 50 h may begin removingrequested inventory items 40 from selected inventory holder 30 x,counting the requested inventory items 40 in selected inventory holder30 x, or performing any other appropriate processing task associatedwith the retrieval request. Additionally, in a particular embodiment,selected inventory station 50 h and/or selected mobile drive unit 20 xmay notify management module 15 once the retrieval request has beencompleted to indicate that selected inventory station 50 h is availablefor subsequent retrieval requests or that selected mobile drive unit 20x is ready to store selected inventory holder 30 x.

Thus, with the appropriate choice of selection criteria, particularembodiments of inventory station 10 can be configured to executeretrieval requests quickly, thereby increasing the throughput ofinventory system 10. Additionally, by selecting components to executeretrieval requests based on the work history of those components,particular embodiments may also provide more evenly distributedworkloads for components of inventory system 10 and/or human operators.Moreover, particular embodiments of inventory system 10 may be capable,in executing a particular retrieval request, of leveraging operationsbeing executed for other inventory requests, thereby providing evengreater operational benefits. As a result, inventory system 10 mayprovide a fast and efficient system for retrieving inventory items 40from storage.

FIG. 3, as noted above, illustrates operation of inventory system 10 inmoving inventory holders 30 to storage spaces 90 within workspace 70 ofinventory system 10. Management module 15 may decide to initiate thestorage operation based on an inventory request received from anoperator of inventory system 10, based on communication with anothercomponent of inventory station 50, or based on any suitable eventoccurring in inventory system 10 or any appropriate informationavailable within inventory system 10. For the purposes of illustration,however, the description below focuses on an embodiment of inventorysystem 10 in which management module 15 initiates a storage operation inresponse to information received from mobile drive unit 20 indicatingthat mobile drive unit 20 is coupled to an inventory holder 30 that isready for storage.

After receiving information indicating that inventory holder 30 is readyfor storage, management module 15 initiates the storage operation. Aspart of the storage operation, management module 15 may select a storagespace 90 based on a classification of the inventory holder 30 to bestored and a classification of a storage space 90 selected by managementmodule 15. The classifications used by management module 15 in selectingthe storage space 90 may represent any suitable classification ofinventory holder 30 and any suitable classification of storage space 90.

For example, management module 15 may utilize a holder velocity as therelevant classification of inventory holder 30. The holder velocity ofan inventory holder 30 represents a measure of the frequency with whichinventory items 40 stored on that inventory holder 30 are requested ininventory requests. In such an embodiment, management module 15 may alsouse a range of holder velocities associated with each storage space 90as the relevant classification for storage spaces 90. Thus, managementmodule 15 may select a storage space 90 for a particular inventoryholder 30 by matching the holder velocity of the inventory holder 30 tobe stored with the range of holder velocities associated with one ormore available storage spaces.

In a particular embodiment, management module 15 calculates the holdervelocity based on an item velocity of one or more inventory items 40stored on that inventory holder 30. The item velocities represent, inany appropriate form, the frequency with which the relevant inventoryitem 40 is requested during operation of inventory system 10. Ingeneral, management module 15 may calculate the holder velocity of aparticular inventory holder 30 in any appropriate manner from theinventory velocities of inventory items 40 stored on that inventoryholder 30. As one example, management module 15 may calculate the holdervelocity for a particular inventory holder 30 by averaging the itemvelocities of all the inventory items 40 stored on that inventory holder30.

As another example, management module 15 may determine a weight for eachinventory item 40 based on the number of units of that inventory item 40stored on the relevant inventory holder 30. Management module 15 mayalso calculate a weighted frequency for each inventory item 40 bymultiplying the item velocity for each inventory item 40 by the weightcalculated for that inventory item 40. Management module 15 may thencalculate the holder velocity for that inventory holder 30 by averagingthe weighted frequencies of all the inventory items 40 stored oninventory holder 30.

Management module 15 then selects a storage space 90 based on theclassification of the inventory holder 30 to be stored and theclassification of the selected storage space 90. For example, in aparticular embodiment, management module 15 utilizes holder velocitiesas the relevant classification for inventory holders 30, and a range ofholder velocities associated with each storage space 90 as the relevantclassification for storage spaces 90. Thus, management module 15 selectsa particular storage space 90 for an inventory holder 30 to be stored onidentifying a particular storage space 90 associated with a holdervelocity range that includes the holder velocity of the inventory holder30 to be stored.

To facilitate the selection of storage spaces 90 during storageoperations, management module 15, at any appropriate time, may alsodefine, calculate, or otherwise identify a plurality of storage regions100 that group storage spaces 90 based on one or more characteristics ofthe grouped storage spaces 90. For example, management module 15 maygroup storage spaces 90 into storage regions 100 based on a distancebetween each storage space 90 and one or more inventory stations 50.Each storage region 100 may then be associated with a storage spaceclassification that management module 15 uses in selecting anappropriate storage space 90, as described above. For example,management module 15 may associate a range of holder velocities witheach of these storage regions 100.

In the illustrated embodiment, management module 15 divides storagespaces 90 into storage regions 100 a-d based on a distance between eachstorage space 90 and a group of one or more inventory stations 50. Forexample, management module 15 may assign each storage space 90 to aparticular storage region 100 based on one or more distances betweenthat storage space 90 and any one or more inventory stations 50 ininventory system 10. Management module 15 may assign each storage space90 based on a maximum distance, a minimum distance, an average distanceor any other one or more distances between that storage space 90 andinventory stations 50 of inventory system 10.

Alternatively, management module 15 may identify a group of inventorystations 50 based on a station criteria. The station criteria defines aparticular characteristic, property, consideration, and/or criteria forinventory stations 50 to be included in the group. The station criteriamay pertain to the active status of inventory stations 50 in the group,the type of inventory requests that the inventory stations 50 areconfigured to process, or any other appropriate characteristic ofinventory stations 50. Thus, management module 15 may identify the groupof all currently active inventory stations 50, all inventory stations 50currently configured to process retrieval and/or replenishment requests,or any other group of inventory stations 50 depending on the stationcriteria used. After identifying the inventory stations 50 in the group,management module 15 may divide storage spaces 90 into storage regions100 based on one or more distances between each storage space 90 and theinventory stations 50 in the group.

Additionally, management module 15 may update the group of inventorystations 50 and reassign storage spaces 90 to storage regions 100 basedon one or more distances between each storage space 90 and inventorystations 50 in the updated group. For example, management module 15 maydetect that an additional inventory station 50 has become active. Inresponse to detecting the new inventory station 50, management module 15may identify an updated group of inventory stations 50 based on thestation criteria. Management module 15 may then reassign storage spaces90 to storage regions 100 based on a maximum distance, a minimumdistance, an average distance, or any other one or more distancesbetween each storage space and the inventory stations 50 in the updatedgroup.

After grouping storage spaces 90 into storage regions 100 based on theappropriate characteristic of storage spaces 90, such as a distance toone or more inventory station 50, management module 15 may select astorage region 100 for the inventory holder 30 to be stored based on aclassification of that inventory holder 30 and a classificationassociated with the selected storage region 100 and/or the storagespaces 90 within that storage region 100. For example, management module15 may select a storage region 100 based on the holder velocity of aparticular inventory holder 30 and a range of holder velocitiesassociated with the selected storage region 100. Management module 15may then select a particular storage space 90 within that storage region100 based on any additional criteria. For example, management module 15may select a particular storage space 90 within the selected storageregion 100 based on a distance between the selected storage space 90 andthe inventory holder 30 to be stored.

In the illustrated embodiment, management module 15, at an appropriatetime, defines storage regions 100 by grouping storage spaces 90 based onthe average distance between each storage space 90 and all inventorystations 50 in inventory system 10. Management module 15 also associatesa range of holder velocities with each storage region 100. For the sakeof illustration, it is assumed that storage region 100 a is associatedwith a range of holder velocities greater than 0.3, that storage region100 b is associated with holder velocities between 0.3 and 0.2, thatstorage region 100 c is associated with holder velocities between 0.2and 0.1, and that storage region 100 d is associated with holdervelocities less than 0.1. Then after initiating a storage operation,management module 15 selects a storage region 90 for inventory holder 30x. For the sake of illustration, it is assumed that inventory holder 30x has a holder velocity of 0.15. Thus, in the illustrated embodiment,management module 15 selects a particular storage region 100 associatedwith a range of holder velocities that includes the holder velocity,0.15, of inventory holder 30 x or, in this case, storage region 100 c.After selecting storage region 100 c, management module 15 then selectsa storage location 90 from among the available storage locations 90 instorage region 100 c, storage locations 90 a-c. In particular,management module 15 selects from storage spaces 90 a-c the storagespace 90 closest to inventory holder 30 x. As illustrated in FIG. 3, theclosest storage space 90 a-c is storage space 90 c.

By selecting a storage space 90 for a particular inventory holder 30based, in part, on the holder velocity of that inventory holder 30,management module 15 may be able to select remote or otherwiseundesirable storage spaces 90 for inventory holders 30 with lower holdervelocities and select easily accessible or otherwise desirable storagespaces 90 for inventory holders 30 with higher holder velocities. Thismay reduce the time needed to move the most frequently requestedinventory items 40 to inventory stations 50 for processing, therebyreducing the amount of time taken to fulfill certain types of inventoryrequests.

After selecting a storage space 90, management module 15 transmitsinformation identifying the selected storage space 90 to the appropriatemobile drive unit 20. Upon receiving this information, the relevantmobile drive unit 20 moves the inventory holder 30 to the selectedstorage space 90, as indicated in FIG. 3 by arrow 310. Mobile drive unit20 may then undock from the inventory holder 30 after arriving at theselected storage space 90. Mobile drive unit 20 may then move away fromthe selected storage space 90, leaving the inventory holder 30 in theselected storage space 90, and begin responding to other inventoryrequests. In the illustrated embodiment, this is shown by arrow 320.

Additionally, in a particular embodiment of inventory system 10,management module 15 may store information related to the availabilityof each storage space 90. In such an embodiment, mobile drive unit 20may notify management module 15 that the selected storage space 90 isnow full. Management module 15 may alternatively determine that theselected storage space 90 is no longer available using other techniquesdepending on the configuration of inventory system 10. As a result,management module 15 may independently generate and store informationindicating that the selected storage space 90 is now full. Managementmodule 15 may then use this information in selecting storage spaces 90for subsequent storage operations or in fulfilling other types ofinventory requests. Furthermore, management module 15 may storeinformation identifying the location of inventory holders 30 and/orinventory items 40 in inventory system 10 and, thus, may storeinformation describing the new location and/or the contents of thestored inventory holder 30.

Consequently, particular embodiments of inventory system 10 may providean optimized method for selecting storage spaces 90 for inventoryholders 30. This may improve the ability of inventory system 10 torespond to subsequent retrieval and replenishment requests efficiently.As a result, the store procedure utilized by particular embodiments ofinventory system 10 may provide significant operational benefits.

FIG. 4 illustrates operation of inventory system 10 in replenishing aninventory holder 30 within workspace 70. During execution of areplenishment operation, mobile drive unit 20 moves inventory holder 30from a storage space 90 to inventory station 50 to be filled withinventory items 40. By selecting inventory holder 30 for the inventoryitem 40 to be stored based on a classification of the inventory item 40to be stored and a classification of one or more inventory items 40already on the selected inventory holder 30, particular embodiments ofinventory system 10 may group and store inventory items 40 in a mannerthat results in more efficient operation of inventory system 10.

Management module 15 decides at an appropriate time to initiate areplenishment operation. Management module 15 may decide to initiate thereplenishment operation based on a predetermined replenishment scheduleor in response to receiving a particular type of inventory request,referred to here as “a replenishment request”, that identifies aninventory item 40 to be added to inventory system 10. For example,inventory system 10 may be configured to replenish inventory holders 30every evening and management module 15 may initiate a replenishmentoperation for appropriate inventory holders 30 on a daily basis.Alternatively, management module 15 may receive information from aninventory station 50 or another component indicating that inventorysystem 10 has received a delivery of inventory items 40 that are readyto be stored in inventory holders 30. In the illustrated embodiment,inventory station 50 z is assumed to have transmitted a replenishmentrequest to management module 15 in response to receiving a pallet ofinventory items 40 z to be stored.

In executing a replenishment operation, management module 15 selects aninventory holder 30 and a mobile drive unit 20. Additionally, in certaincircumstances, management module 15 may also select an inventory station50 at which to complete the replenishment operation. Management module15 may choose inventory holder 30, mobile drive unit 20 and, ifappropriate, inventory station 50 in any appropriate order.Additionally, management module 15 may use any suitable factors,criteria, or considerations in choosing the selected inventory holder30, mobile drive unit 20, and inventory station 50.

In a particular embodiment, management module 15 selects inventoryholder 30 based on a classification of the inventory item 40 to bestored and a classification of one or more inventory items 40 already onthe selected inventory holder 30. For example, in a particularembodiment, management module 15 groups more frequently requestedinventory items 40 on particular inventory holders 30 and lessfrequently requested inventory items 40 on other inventory holders 30and then stores the more frequently requested inventory items 40 instorage spaces 90 that are closer to inventory stations 50. As a result,management module 15 may be able to reduce the time required to completeretrieval operations and other tasks executed by inventory system 10 bykeeping frequently-requested inventory items 40 close to inventorystations 50.

In such an embodiment, management module 15 calculates an item velocityfor each inventory item 40 stored on inventory system 10. The itemvelocity may represent any suitable value determined based in any manneron a frequency with which that inventory item 40 is requested duringoperation of inventory system 10.

For the purposes of this description and the claims that follow, aninventory item 40 is considered to be “requested” whenever thatinventory item 40 is involved in an activity undertaken within inventorysystem 10 or any designated subset of the activities undertaken withininventory system 10. A particular inventory item 40 may be requested asa result of management module 15 receiving any inventory request thatidentifies the inventory item 40 or, alternatively, a particular type ofinventory request, such as a retrieval request, that identifies theinventory item 40 in question. As one example, inventory system 10 mayrepresent a mail-order warehouse, and management module 15 may determineitem velocities for each inventory item 40 based in some manner on thefrequency with which that inventory item 40 is retrieved to fulfillmerchandise orders received by the warehouse. As another example,inventory system 10 may represent a facility for processing returnedmerchandise, and management module 15 may calculate the item velocitiesfor each inventory item 40 based on the frequency with which thatinventory item 40 is returned by customers. In general, the itemvelocity may represent any suitable calculation or measure based, in anyappropriate manner, on the frequency with which the relevant inventoryitem 40 is requested for any one or more operations performed byinventory system 10.

Additionally, the item velocity may reflect the frequency with which theinventory item 40 is requested over a predetermined absolute timeperiod, over an amount of time defined with respect to particularevents, or within any other suitable measurement of time. As oneexample, the item velocity may reflect the average number of requestsfor a particular inventory item 40 that are received in a single day. Asanother example the item velocity may reflect the number of times thatinventory item 40 is requested in a given number of inventory requests.As a further example, the item velocity may be manually set by awarehouse manager in anticipation of an inventory item becoming popularor unpopular.

After determining item velocities for appropriate inventory items 40,management module 15 may select an inventory holder 30 based in someappropriate manner on the item velocity of the inventory item 40 to bestored and the item velocity of one or more inventory items 40 on eachinventory holder 30. For example, in a particular embodiment, managementmodule 15 calculates a holder velocity for each inventory holder 30 ininventory system 10, the holder velocity representing the average itemvelocity of inventory items 40 stored on that inventory holder 30.Management module 15 may then select the inventory holder 30 based on avelocity difference of the inventory holder 30, the velocity differencerepresenting the difference between the item velocity of the inventoryitem 40 to be stored and the holder velocity of the selected inventoryholder 30.

By minimizing the velocity difference in selecting inventory holders 30,management module 15 may be able to group inventory items 40 ininventory holders 30 based on item velocities of the stored inventoryitems 40. Inventory system 10 may then store the selected inventoryholder 30 based on the holder velocity of the selected inventory holder30. As a result, management module 15 may be able to group and storeless frequently requested inventory items 40 far from inventory stations50 and more frequently requested inventory items 40 close to inventorystations 50.

Additionally, in particular embodiments, management module 15 may beconfigured to create diversely-stocked inventory holders 30. Becausegrouping inventory items 40 based solely on item velocity may produceinventory holders 30 that contain only a single or a small number ofdifferent inventory items 40, management module 15 may consider themarginal benefit of storing the inventory item 40 in a particularinventory holder 30 before selecting that inventory holder 30. Morespecifically, management module 15 may, when selecting inventory holder30, consider an increase in the likelihood that one or more inventoryitems 40 stored on that inventory holder 30 would be requested in aninventory request received by management module 15.

In such an embodiment, management module 15 may calculate, for inventoryholders 30, one or more pick number probabilities associated with one ormore pick numbers. Each pick number probability represents a likelihoodthat a single inventory request will request a number of inventory items40 stored on inventory holder 30 that is equal to the pick number. Forexample, for a pick number probability of three, management module 15calculates the likelihood that a single inventory request will requestthree inventory items 40 that are stored on inventory holder 30. In aparticular embodiment, management module 15 is configured to calculate apick number probability for pick numbers of one, two, and three. Thesepick numbers represent, respectively, the likelihood that a singleinventory request received by management module 15 will identify one,two, and three inventory items 40 stored on inventory holder 30.Furthermore, management module 15 may calculate these pick numberprobabilities for the relevant inventory holders 30 based on theinventory items 40 currently stored on those inventory holder 30.Management module 15 may then re-calculate these pick numberprobabilities for each of the relevant inventory holders 30 assuming theinventory item 40 to be stored is added to that inventory holder 30 andmay update the pick number probabilities as appropriate.

Management module 15 may then calculate a usefulness value for eachinventory holder 30 representing the sum of the pick probabilitiescalculated for that inventory holder 30. More specifically, managementmodule 15 may calculate a first usefulness value based on the inventoryitems 40 currently stored on the inventory holder 30 and a secondusefulness value based on the contents of inventory holder 30 if theinventory item 40 to be stored were added to that inventory holder 30.Management module 15 may then determine a usefulness differential foreach inventory holder 30 based on a change in the usefulness value thatwould result if the inventory item 40 to be stored were added to theinventory holder 30. Management module 15 may then select inventoryholder 30 based, in part, on this usefulness differential. Because theusefulness differential will be greater for inventory holders 30 that donot already hold the inventory item 40 in question, inventory system 10may, as a result of these replenishment techniques, create inventoryholders 30 that hold a diverse collection of inventory items 40.

Management module 15 may then select an inventory holder 30 on which tostore inventory item 40 based, in any appropriate manner, on the itemvelocity of the inventory item 40 to be stored and the holder velocityand usefulness differential of the selected inventory holder 30. Forexample, in a particular embodiment, management module 15 calculates avelocity similarity for each inventory holder 30, equal to one minus theabsolute value of the difference between the item velocity of inventoryitem 40 and the holder velocity of that inventory holder 30. Managementmodule 15 then also calculates a score for each inventory holder 30based on the product of the velocity similarity and the usefulnessdifferential. By selecting inventory holder 30 based on these values,management module 15 may be able produce inventory holders 30 thatcontain a diverse selection of inventory items 40 with similar itemvelocities. In the illustrated embodiment, management module 15 isassumed to have selected inventory holder 30 z on which to storeinventory items 40 z.

After selecting inventory holder 30, management module 15 may thenselect a particular mobile drive unit 20 to transport that inventoryholder 30 and, if appropriate, a particular inventory station 50 tocomplete the replenishment operation. Management module 15 may use anyappropriate criteria, factors, or considerations in selecting mobiledrive unit 20 and inventory station 50. For example, in a particularembodiment, an inventory station 50 receives a pallet of inventory items40 to be stored in inventory system 10 and transmits a replenishmentrequest to management module 15 specifying the inventory items 40 to bestored. In such an embodiment, management module 15 may select only anappropriate inventory holder 30 on which to store the inventory item 40and, from a pool of currently available mobile drive units 20, themobile drive unit 20 closest to the selected inventory holder 30 totransport the selected inventory holder 30 to the inventory station 50that transmitted the replenishment request. As indicated above, in theillustrated embodiment, inventory station 50 z is assumed to havetransmitted the replenishment request to management module 15 inresponse to receiving a pallet of inventory items 40 z to be stored.

In alternative embodiments, management module 15 may generate thereplenishment request itself and subsequently selects the inventorystation 50 from a group of inventory stations 50 that may include,depending on the configuration of inventory system 10, all inventorystations 50 in inventory system 10 or all currently active inventorystations 50. Moreover, inventory system 10 may have reconfigurableinventory stations 50 that may, at any particular time, be designated toprocess only one of many different types of inventory requests. Forexample, each inventory station 50 may, at a given time, be configuredto handle only retrieval requests or only replenishment requests. Insuch an embodiment, management module 15 may select the inventorystation 50 from a group of inventory stations 50 that includes allactive inventory stations 50 that are currently configured to processreplenishment requests.

After management module 15 has selected an appropriate inventory holder30, mobile drive unit 20 and inventory station 50, management module 15may then transmit information identifying the selected inventory holder30 and the selected inventory station 50 to the selected mobile driveunits 20. Alternatively, management module 15 may transmit informationidentifying a location of the selected inventory holder 30 and/or alocation of the selected inventory station 50 to the selected mobiledrive unit 20. Management module 15 may also transmit additionalinformation pertaining to the replenishment request to the selectedinventory station 50, such as a number of units of the inventory item 40to store in the selected inventory holder 30, a particular bin on theselected inventory holder 30 in which to place the inventory item 40, orany other appropriate information to be used in processing thereplenishment request.

The selected mobile drive units 20 then moves to the selected inventoryholder 30 and couples to the selected inventory holder 30. This isillustrated in FIG. 4 by arrow 410. After coupling to the inventoryholder 30, the selected mobile drive unit 20 then moves the selectedinventory holder 30 to the selected inventory station 50. This isillustrated in FIG. 4 by arrow 420.

Once the selected inventory holder 30 arrives at the selected inventorystation 50, an operator at the selected inventory station 50 may processthe replenishment request in any appropriate manner. In a particularembodiment, the operator stores a predetermined number of units of theinventory item 40 to be stored in the selected inventory holder 30.Inventory station 50 or the operator of inventory station 50 may thentransmit information to management module 15 or other components ofinventory system 10 indicating that the replenishment request has beencompleted. Inventory system 10 may then execute a storage operationusing, for example, the techniques described above to return theselected inventory holder 30 to a storage space 90 in workspace 70.

Although the above description focuses on an embodiment of inventorysystem 10 that utilize a single mobile drive unit 20, inventory holder30, and inventory station 50 in completing the replenishment operation,inventory system 10 may utilize any appropriate number of inventoryholders 30, mobile drive units 20, and inventory stations 50 to completethe replenishment operation. For example, the replenishment request mayidentify multiple inventory items 40 to be stored and management module15 may select one or more inventory holders 30 in which to store theseinventory items 40 and one or more mobile drive units 20 to transportthe selected inventory holders 30.

Additionally, in particular embodiments, management module 15 may,during replenishment operations, distribute the storage of a singleinventory item 40 over multiple inventory holders 30. Management module15 may store the inventory item 40 in multiple inventory holders 30 tospread the inventory item 40 among many inventory holder 30 and therebyallow inventory system 10 to store that inventory item 40 in severalplaces in workspace 70. More specifically, management module 15 mayallocate a portion of a replenishment quantity specified by thereplenishment request to a first selected inventory holder 30.Management module 15 may then select additional inventory holders 30 andallocate additional portions of the replenishment quantity to theadditional inventory holders 30 until all of the remaining replenishmentquantity has been allocated to a particular inventory holder 30.

Management module 15 may also use multiple inventory holders 30 to storethe inventory item 40 when management module 15 determines that a firstselected inventory holder 30 does not possess enough unused storagecapacity to store all the units of the inventory item 40 specified bythe replenishment request. More specifically, management module 15 maydetermine that the replenishment quantity exceeds an unused storagecapacity of the first selected inventory holder 30. The unused storagecapacity may represent all the unused storage capacity of the selectedinventory holder 30, unused capacity in currently empty bins of theselected inventory holder 30, unused capacity in bins of the selectedinventory holder 30 that are already storing the inventory item 40, orany other suitable measure of unused storage capacity. As a result ofdetermining that the replenishment quantity exceeds the unused storagecapacity of the first selected inventory holder 30, management module 15may select additional inventory holders 30 as needed until the unusedstorage capacity of all the selected inventory holders 30 is equal to orgreater than the replenishment quantity.

Furthermore, although the above description focuses on an embodiment ofinventory system 10 that selects an inventory holder 30 based on itemvelocities and/or product diversity considerations, management module 15may select inventory holder 30 based on any appropriate classificationof the relevant inventory items 40. For example, management module 15may select inventory holder 30 based on expiration dates of the relevantinventory items 40; restocking schedules; a season or event associatedwith the relevant inventory items 40, such as Halloween or Easter; acommon theme associated with the relevant inventory items 40, such asbaseball equipment or cooking utensils; synergy between inventory itemssuch that they are commonly ordered together; and/or any otherappropriate classification of the relevant inventory items 40. Bygrouping inventory items 40 on inventory holders 30 based on one or moreclassifications of the relevant inventory items 40, particularembodiments of inventory system 10 may distribute inventory items 40among inventory holders 30 in a manner that allows for more intelligentstorage of inventory holders 30.

Additionally, by creating inventory holders 30 that offer a diverseselection of inventory items 40, management module 15 may increase thelikelihood that a selected inventory holder 30 will be able to providemultiple inventory items 40 requested by any given inventory request.This may further reduce the amount of time needed to fulfill subsequentinventory requests. Thus, the described replenishment techniques mayincrease operational efficiency of particular embodiments of inventorysystem 10.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating example functionality of a particularembodiment of management module 15 in executing a retrieval operation.In the described embodiment, the process begins at step 500 withmanagement module 15 receiving a retrieval request that identifies aninventory item 40. After receiving the retrieval request, managementmodule 15 selects an inventory station 50 at which the retrieval requestwill be fulfilled. As noted above, management module 15 may utilize anyappropriate criteria, factors, or considerations in selecting anappropriate inventory station 50. In the illustrated embodiment,management module 15 calculates a score for each available inventorystation 50 and selects an inventory station 50 based on its score. Thesecalculations may be performed when management module 15. Alternatively,management module 15 may perform the calculation at other appropriatetimes and store the results for later use in responding to a retrievalrequest.

In calculating the scores for inventory stations 50, management module15 calculates, at step 510, a time-to-fill value for each inventorystation based on a distribution of the inventory item 40 relative toeach inventory station 50. Management module 15 also calculates adrive-unit density value for each inventory station 50, at step 520,based on a distribution of available mobile drive units 20 relative toeach inventory station 50. Additionally, management module 15 calculatesa workload value for each inventory station 50, at step 530, based on anamount of work that has been performed at that inventory station 50 overa predetermined time period. Management module 15 also calculates aqueue capacity value for each inventory station 50, at step 540, basedon contents of a queue associated with that inventory station 50. Atstep 550, management module 15 then sums the time-to-fill value, thedrive-unit density value, the workload value, and the queue capacityvalue for each inventory station 50 to produce a score for thatinventory station 50. Management module 15 selects the inventory station50 with the best score at step 560. More specifically, in the describedembodiment, management module 15 selects the inventory station 50 withthe highest score.

After selecting an inventory station 50, management module 15 selects aninventory holder 30 that stores the requested inventory item 40 at step570. As noted above, management module 15 may select the inventoryholder 30 based on any appropriate factors, criteria, or considerations.Examples of such factors may include, but are not limited to, thecontents of inventory holders 30, their location relative to inventorystations 50 or mobile drive units 20, existing assignments of inventoryholders 30, tuning considerations, and/or any other appropriate factors.

At step 580, management module 15 selects a mobile drive unit 20 to movethe selected inventory holder 30 to the selected inventory station 50.As noted above, management module 15 may also select the mobile driveunit 20 based any appropriate factors, criteria, or considerations.Examples of such factors may include, but are not limited to, thelocation of mobile drive units 20 relative to the selected inventorystation 50 or the selected inventory holder 30. .After selecting aninventory station 50, an inventory holder 30, and a mobile drive unit20, management module 15 transmits information identifying the selectedinventory station 50 and the selected inventory holder 30 to theselected mobile drive unit 20 at step 590.

After management module 15 has transmitted this information to theselected mobile drive unit 20, appropriate elements of inventory system10 may perform appropriate actions to complete the retrieval operation.For, in particular embodiments, the selected mobile drive unit 20 movesto the selected inventory holder 30. The selected mobile drive unit 20then couples to the selected inventory holder. The selected mobile driveunit 20 then moves the selected inventory holder 30 to the selectedinventory station 50. An agent or operator located at the selectedinventory station 50 may then select the requested inventory item 40from the selected inventory holder 30 and placing the inventory item 40in a box to be shipped to a customer and/or take any other suitableactions to complete the retrieval operation.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating example functionality of a particularembodiment of management module 15 in executing a storage operation. Theprocess begins at step 600 with management module 15 detecting that aninventory holder 30 is available for storage. As described above,storage operations may be executed at any appropriate time, including atthe completion of a retrieval request. Thus, management module 15 maydetect that an inventory holder 30 is available for storage bydetermining that a previously received retrieval request has beencompleted by suitable components of inventory system 10 and that one ormore inventory holders 30 involved in the fulfillment of the retrievalrequest are now available to be stored.

Management module 15 then determines a classification of the inventoryholder 30 to be stored at step 610. This classification of inventoryholder 30 may describe any appropriate characteristic, attribute, orvalue or collection of characteristics, attributes, or values associatedwith the relevant inventory holder 30. In particular embodiments,management module 15 determines the classification by determining aholder velocity of the inventory holder 30 that specifies the frequencywith which the inventory items 40 stored in the relevant inventoryholder 30 are requested in retrieval requests received by managementmodule 15.

At step 620, management module 15 determines a classification associatedwith each of a plurality of storage locations 90. This classification ofinventory holder 30 may describe any appropriate characteristic,attribute, or value or collection of characteristics, attributes, orvalues associated with the relevant storage location 90. In particularembodiments, management module 15 determines these classifications bydetermining a range of holder velocities associated with each storagelocation 90. For example, management module 15 may divide storagelocations 90 into a plurality of storage regions 100 and assign a rangeof holder velocities to each storage region 100 based on appropriatecriteria, such as the distance between the storage locations and one ormore inventory stations. This may allow management module 15 to assigninventory holders 30 with less frequently requested inventory items 40to storage regions 100 further removed from inventory stations 50.Although, in the described embodiment, management module 15 determinesthe classifications of the relevant storage locations 90 at the time ofthe storage operation, in alternative embodiments, management module 15may determine the classifications of the relevant storage locations 90at other appropriate times and store these classifications for useduring subsequent storage operations.

At step 630, management module 15 selects an available storage location90 for the inventory holder 30 to be stored based on the classificationof the relevant inventory holder 30 and the classification of theselected storage location 90. For example, in particular embodiments,management module 15 identifies a storage region 100 that is assigned arange of holder velocities that includes the holder velocity of therelevant inventory holder 30. Management module 15 then selects anavailable storage location 90 from the identified storage region 100.

After selecting a storage location 90, management module 15 may reservethe selected storage location 90, at step 640, for use by the inventoryholder 30 to be stored. Management module 15 may reserve the selectedstorage space 90, in any appropriate manner based on the configurationof inventory system 10. For example, in particular embodiments,management module 15 maintains a map of all storage locations 90 thatindicates whether a particular storage location 90 is available for use.In such embodiments, management module 15 may reserve the selectedstorage location 90 by marking the selected storage location 90 asunavailable on the map. At step 650, management module 15 transmitsinformation identifying the storage location 90 to a mobile drive unit20 associated with the inventory holder 30. For example, if inventoryholder 30 was just involved in a retrieval request, the associatedmobile drive unit 20 may be the mobile drive unit 20 that moved thatinventory holder 30 to the inventory station 50 where the retrievalrequest was fulfilled.

After management module 15 has transmitted this information to theassociated mobile drive unit 20, appropriate elements of inventorysystem 10 may perform appropriate actions to complete the storageoperation. In particular embodiments, the associated mobile drive unit20 moves the inventory holder 30 to the selected storage location 90.The associated mobile drive unit 20 then uncouples from the inventoryholder 30. The associated mobile drive unit 20 then moves away, leavingthe inventory holder 30 behind in the selected storage location 90.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating example functionality of a particularembodiment of management module 15 in executing a replenishmentoperation. The method begins at step 700 with management module 15receiving an inventory request that identifies an inventory item 40 tobe stored in inventory system 10. In response to receiving the inventoryrequest, management module 15 determines a classification of theinventory item to be stored. In particular, in the described embodiment,management module 15 determines the classification of the inventory item40 to be stored by calculating an item velocity for the inventory item40 to be stored at step 710. In particular embodiments, this itemvelocity is calculated based, at least in part, on a frequency withwhich the inventory item 40 to be stored is requested in inventoryrequests received by management module 15 and/or other elements ofinventory system 10.

At step 720, management module 15 identifies a plurality of inventoryholders 30 with unused storage capacity. In particular embodiments, theinventory holders 30 with unused storage capacity may representinventory holders 30 having an empty storage bin, inventory holders 30having unused storage capacity in a storage bin currently storing theinventory item 40 to be stored, or inventory holders 30 with any otherform of unused capacity. Management module 15 then determines aclassification for each of the plurality of inventory holders 30 withunused capacity. More specifically, in the described embodiment,management module 15 determines the classifications of the relevantinventory holders 30 calculating a holder velocity for each of theinventory holders 30 with unused capacity at step 730.

Management module 15 selects an inventory holder 30 from the inventoryholders having unused storage capacity based, at least in part, on theclassification of the inventory item to be stored and a classificationof one or more other inventory items 40 currently stored in the selectedinventory holder 30. In the described embodiment, management module 15selects the inventory holder 30, at step 740, based on the holdervelocity of the selected inventory holder 30 and the item velocity ofthe inventory item 40 to be stored. In particular embodiments,management module 15 may also select an inventory holder 30 based on theusefulness value described above, and/or on any other values, criteria,characteristics, or factors associated with the relevant inventoryholders 30.

At step 750, management module 15 allocates, to the selected inventoryholder 30, a first portion of a replenish quantity of the inventory item40 to be stored. In particular embodiments, inventory holder 30 mayallocate a portion equal to the unused storage capacity possessed by theselected inventory holder 30. At step 760, management module 15determines whether any portion of replenish quantity remains after thefirst portion has been allocated to the selected inventory holder 30. Ifso, management module 15 may repeat steps 740-760, selecting additionalinventory holders 30 until all of the replenish quantity is allocated.

Once management module 15 has allocated all of the replenish quantity toparticular inventory holders 30, management module 15 transmits to oneor more mobile drive unit 20 , information identifying the selectedinventory holder(s) 40 at step 770. If management module 15 has selectedmultiple inventory holders 30, in particular embodiments, managementmodule 15 may transmit multiple sets of information, with each set ofinformation transmitted to a different mobile drive unit 20 and each setidentifying a different one of the selected inventory holders 30. Atstep 780, management module 15 may also transmit information identifyingan inventory station 50 at which the replenishment request will becompleted to the relevant mobile drive units 20. Management module 15may select the inventory station 50 based on any suitable criteria,receive information identifying the inventory station 50 as part of thereplenishment request, and/or determine the inventory station 50 to beused in completing the replenishment request in any other mannerappropriate based on the configuration of inventory system 10. Therelevant mobile drive units 20 may then move the selected inventoryholder(s) 30 to the inventory station 50 at which the replenishment willbe completed.

Additionally, in particular embodiments, management module 15 may alsoexecute certain steps to facilitate the return of the selected inventoryholders 30 to storage after the inventory items 40 in question have beenstored in the selected inventory holders 30. For example, in thedescribed embodiment, management module 15 receives informationindicating the inventory item 40 to be stored has been stored in theselected inventory holder(s) 30 at step 790. At step 800, managementmodule 15 determines a storage location for the selected inventoryholder(s) 30. In particular embodiments, if management module 15 hasselected multiple inventory holders 30 to complete the replenishmentrequest, management module 15 may determine a storage location for eachof the selected inventory holders 30. At step 810, management module 15transmits information identifying the storage location determined forthe selected inventory holders 30 to one or more mobile drive units 20.In particular embodiments, if management module 15 has selected multipleinventory holders 30, management module 15 may transmit informationidentifying the storage location determined for each of the selectedinventory holders 30 to a mobile drive unit 20 associated with thatinventory holder 30. These mobile drive units 20 may then move theselected inventory holders 30 to the storage locations determined bymanagement module 15. In alternative embodiments, a single mobile driveunit 20 may be responsible for returning all inventory holders 30 tostorage and management module 15 may transmit information identifyingstorage locations for all of the selected inventory holders 30 to thatone mobile drive unit 20. That mobile drive unit 20 may then move eachof the selected inventory holders 30 to the storage location selectedfor that inventory holder 30.

Although FIGS. 5-7 illustrate steps executed by particular embodimentsof management module 15 in a particular order, alternative embodimentsof management module 15 may perform all, some, or none of these stepsand may do so in any appropriate order. Moreover, any two or more of thesteps illustrated in any of FIGS. 5-7 may be combined, modified ordeleted where appropriate and additional steps may also be added.Furthermore, although the present invention has been described withseveral embodiments, a myriad of changes, variations, alterations,transformations, and modifications may be suggested to one skilled inthe art, and it is intended that the present invention encompass suchchanges, variations, alterations, transformations, and modifications asfall within the scope of the appended claims.

1-43. (canceled)
 44. A system comprising: a management module configured to control and administer order fulfilment operations within a workspace; and a robotic transport unit that is remote from the management module, the robotic transport unit comprising a self-propelled device that is operable to wirelessly receive and respond to commands from the management module to retrieve and transport one or more inventory shelves to one or more locations designated by the management module within the workspace.
 45. The system of claim 44, wherein the management module is further configured to fulfill orders for inventory items stored by the one or more inventory shelves by transmitting one or more wireless commands to the robotic transport unit.
 46. The system of claim 44, wherein one or more wireless commands transmitted by the management module identify a first inventory shelf that stores a first inventory item requested by a first order.
 47. The system of claim 44, wherein one or more wireless commands transmitted by the management module identify to the robotic transport unit a location of the one or more inventory shelves and facilitate navigation by the robotic transport unit to the one or more inventory shelves.
 48. The system of claim 44, wherein the management module coordinates fulfillment of an order comprising a plurality of inventory items by instructing one or more robotic transport units to transport, in succession, a plurality of inventory shelves that store the plurality of inventory items to the one or more designated locations.
 49. The system of claim 44, wherein the management module is further configured to transmit instructions to the robotic transport unit to transport the one or more inventory shelves to a storage location in the workspace, the storage location being selected by the management module based at least in part on the frequency with which inventory items stored by the one or more inventory shelves are requested by the order fulfilment operations.
 50. The system of claim 44, wherein the management module selects the robotic transport unit from a plurality of available robotic transport units for carrying out particular order fulfillment operations based at least in part on one or more metrics associated with the plurality of robotic transport units, the robotic transport unit being selected based on a first metric being less than at least a second metric associated with another of the plurality of available robotic transport units.
 51. The system of claim 44, wherein the management module, upon instructing the robotic transport unit to retrieve an inventory shelf, initiates a docking operation by which the robotic transport unit moves beneath the inventory shelf and actuates a docking mechanism that initiates contact with at least a portion of the inventory shelf.
 52. A method comprising: receiving, by a management module, an order comprising a first inventory item and a second inventory item; locating, by the management module, inside a workspace a first inventory shelf storing the first inventory item and a second inventory shelf storing the second inventory item; wirelessly transmitting, from the management module to a first robotic transport unit, one or more first instructions, to retrieve the first inventory shelf and transport the first inventory shelf to an order fulfillment location; and wirelessly transmitting, from the management module to a second robotic transport unit, one or more second instructions to retrieve the second inventory shelf and transport the second inventory shelf to the order fulfillment location; wherein the management module determines the one or more first instructions and the one or more second instructions such that the first robotic transport unit delivers the first inventory shelf at a first time to the order fulfilment location and the second robotic transport unit successively delivers the second inventory shelf at a second time after the first time to the order fulfilment location.
 53. The method of claim 52, further comprising transmitting, from the management module to the order fulfillment location, one or more third instructions to retrieve the first inventory item from the first inventory shelf and to retrieve the second inventory item from the second inventory shelf.
 54. The method of claim 52, wherein the one or more first instructions comprise a location of the first inventory shelf and information to facilitate navigation of the first robotic transport unit to the first inventory shelf.
 55. The method of claim 52, further comprising selecting, by the management module, the first robotic transport unit to retrieve the first inventory shelf based on one or more metrics associated with the first robotic transport unit and the second robotic transport unit, the first robotic transport unit being selected based on a first metric being less than at least a second metric associated with the second robotic transport unit.
 56. The method of claim 52, further comprising selecting, by the management module, the first inventory shelf from a plurality of inventory shelves storing the first inventory item, the first inventory shelf being selected based on a first metric being less than at least a second metric associated with another inventory shelf of the plurality of inventory shelves.
 57. The method of claim 52, further comprising selecting, by the management module, the order fulfillment location from a plurality of order fulfilment locations, the order fulfillment location being selected based on a first metric being less than at least a second metric associated with another order fulfilment location of the plurality of order fulfilment locations.
 58. The method of claim 52, further comprising selecting, by the management module, the first robotic transport unit for retrieving the first inventory shelf based on whether the first robotic transport unit is already traveling to the first inventory shelf.
 59. A system comprising: a first robotic transport unit; a second robotic transport unit; a management module configured to fulfill an order comprising a first inventory item and a second inventory item by issuing at least a first instruction to the first robotic transport unit and at least a second instruction to the second robotic transport unit in a workspace; wherein the first robotic transport unit is operable to, in response to receiving the at least first instruction, initiate retrieval of a first inventory shelf storing the first inventory item and transport the first inventory shelf to an order fulfilment station in the workspace at a first time; and wherein the second robotic transport unit is operable to, in response to receiving the at least second instruction, initiate retrieval of a second inventory shelf storing the second inventory item and transport the second inventory shelf to the order fulfilment station in the workspace at a second time, wherein the first and second robotic transport units arrive in succession at the order fulfilment station at the first and second times.
 60. The system of claim 59, wherein the management module is further operable to send at least a third instruction to the order fulfilment station identifying that the order comprises the first inventory item and the second inventory item.
 61. The system of claim 60, wherein the management module is further configured to determine the at least first instruction and at least second instruction to cause the first and second robotic transport units to arrive successively at the order fulfilment station and wherein the at least third instruction further identifies that the first inventory item is stored on the first inventory shelf and the second inventory item is stored on the second inventory shelf.
 62. The system of claim 59, wherein the first robotic transport unit, upon arriving at the first inventory shelf, initiates a docking operation by which the first robotic transport unit moves a center of gravity of the first robotic transport unit beneath the first inventory shelf and actuates a docking mechanism that initiates contact with at least a portion of the first inventory shelf, wherein the center of gravity of the first robotic transport unit is aligned substantially with the center of gravity of the first inventory shelf.
 63. The system of claim 59, wherein the first inventory shelf is associated with a storage location and the management module is further operable to initiate retrieval of the first inventory shelf based on whether the first inventory shelf is stored at the associated storage location. 